B.L.A.M.E.

Black lives always mattered, eminently!

In the wake of the senseless and egregious murder of George Floyd, I’m deeply pained and conflicted. Pained because I want to know why it took one more person to die in order for the world to wake up. Conflicted because I don’t want to become desensitized to murder. I wake up, consciously avoiding the urge to participate in the audio or visual intake of the disinformed false narrative fed by mainstream American media to the world regarding systemic racism. I'd instead choose not to participate in such a false story about a reality in which I was born. This is not easy but necessary for me. Utilizing other outlets to get the majority of my current events. It's incomprehensible how many people are unaware of the media bias biases. Tragically in 2020, although it may seem we have come a long way, it is evident that America has a long bridge to cross as it pertains to systemic racism. Black people have achieved and contributed so much to America and the world. While praised and exploited for these accomplishments, they have been consistently fed the narrative of being less than.

The first Africans were trafficked to Jamestown, Virginia, in 1961, brought to America for the sole purpose of building a country on free labor to develop and create wealth for whites. When freed from slavery, blacks were no longer an asset but viewed as liabilities. Emancipation proclamation on the surface physically freed blacks from ownership by individual white Americans yet delivered them into the hands of a racist government.

Systemic racism is a common practice in America, so much so that it has become business as usual. America's mainstream media has, for far too long, been the vehicle used to drive, support and perpetuate modern-day slavery. Systemic racism is the ever-evolving inhumane practice that is integrated into American culture mostly through media platforms. So overt that most Americans black, white, and others would argue that we have come a long way as a country and dismiss the intent of the ultimate messaging. Never in 30+ years of being black in America, can I recall a time that any media outlets have repeatedly purposely replayed as citizens watched a white person (man, woman, or child) be hunted down and murdered in the street; this has become America's new pastime. Our citizens are subjected to the constant parading of the lifeless bodies of disenfranchised black people, therefore desensitizing Americans by the devaluing of black lives. We have seen this tactic before in the not so distant past with the lynchings of black people. Black people were strategically left for long periods to "keep blacks in line," reminding black people that this could and would be their fate if need be. Amerikkka's chickens have come home to roost.

Overwhelming disparities have been ignored and overlooked; they exist in areas regarding: education, income, criminal justice, housing, health care, and lack of access to fundamental rights concerning almost every aspect of life. America has not come a long way, the accessibility to modern technology (mainly smartphones) has. Perhaps we should thank Barrack Obama for providing smartphones aka Obama phones to those who otherwise would not have them, thus being able to instantly record, click and share. We can see you, and we know what you have been up to, Amerikka. Gone is the day you will be allowed to throw rocks and hide your hand. You must stand and accept responsibility and take the necessary actions to rectify the wrongs you have so long avoided.